|
Arid conditions threaten Mogao Grottoes
By Ma Lie (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-27 05:23
XI'AN: The Mogao Grottoes, a site on the World Heritage list, is being
threatened by increasing arid conditions, say experts.
The intensified desertification caused by water shortages in the area has
harmed the preservation of the cultural relics in recent years.
The grottoes are located on a cliff about 25 kilometres southeast of
Dunhuang, a city in a desert in the southwest of Gansu Province in Northwest
China.
More than half of the murals and painted sculptures in 492 caves are
suffering from colour changes or crisping and peeling, as well as other damage
linked to an increasing number of sandstorms, said Wang Wanfu, deputy director
of the Relics Preservation Research Institute under the Dunhuang Academy.
The water shortage in Dunhuang has mainly been caused by the increasing
demand for supplies by residents and tourists, the relics protection expert told
China Daily.
Formed since AD 366, the grottoes are made up of a 1,680-metre-long complex
with 735 caves from different dynasties. Of the total, 492 in the south were for
worshipping purposes and the remaining 243 in the north were used by monks to
live in, Wang said.
Since 1987, when the grottoes were put on the World Heritage list by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, they have
attracted more and more tourists from both home and abroad.
Local farmers have been pumping underground water for agricultural irrigation
since the 1970s, and at present there are more than 1,500 such irrigation wells
across Dunhuang, sources from the local water conservancy department said.
It has caused the level of underground water to drop by about 50 centimetres
annually over the past 25 years, according to Ma Yucheng, deputy director of
Dunhuang Municipal Water Authority.
The drop has also caused grassland degeneration and wetland withering, the
official said.
The serious situation has drawn attention from local officials. Dunhuang
municipal government has banned the drilling of new irrigation wells, and plans
to develop a more efficient agriculture system to save water, according to Zhang
Ping, Dunhuang's deputy mayor.
The local government has suggested creating a water diversion project for
several years, which has been put aside because of fund shortages and arduous
construction, Zhang said.
(China Daily 02/27/2006 page3)
|
